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Salad Dressing Anyone?
Matthew 5:13 'You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.'
 If Jesus were making this statement in today's world, he might say it like this, 'You are the salad dressing on life.' Sadly, the term 'salt of the earth' has been used now for so long, that people have totally confused what Jesus meant by it. For us, it's become a statement about lifelessness. We say someone is the 'salt of the earth' we very often mean they're dull and colourless -- basically, calling them salt is about the only positive thing we can say about them. That's not at all what Jesus meant. He wanted his followers to see that they should be the very spice of life. Sure, salt keeps the food fresh, but it also gives the taste some real zap, some pizzazz. So for us, 'you are the salad dressing of life' might be closer to what Jesus meant to convey. Christians are not called to be the wet blanket on every fire, or the thunderstorm on every party. No, they should add flavour to the lives of everyone around them! In Jesus' day, even people who didn't much approve of him had to admit that he was filled with a very special charisma and zest for life. Sinners were naturally drawn to him, no matter what their past or present condition. Of course, salt can also be hard to take -- when you rub it into a wound, for example. It does have a medicinal purpose and people who are living in sin will feel convicted by the presence of someone who is filled with the Spirit of Jesus. But our major role is to attract people to Jesus; not by compromising our faith but by being filled with the very person of Jesus, the Lord of life.
Prayer: 'Jesus, please help me today to be the kind of person that is so filled with you that I add a real dash of flavour, of spice to people's lives. Help me to have a strong zest for life and to draw people to you.'
© 2003-2004 Mal Fletcher
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I was quite surprised to see the EDGES website - a human-transparent site with an inclination towards God. I really like the way you are posting your brilliant reports about issues. Keep up your good work.
Pavel, Russia
Hi Mal, you recently preached at our Sunday service at Rhema Bible Church in Joburg, South Africa. You preached God's word with such simplicity and I left church feeling really inspired. It's been a blessing going through the articles on this site.
Elaine, South Africa
Only a few days after learning of Next Wave I typed in 'Germany' in the search field. Less than a week later my puppet show is being considered for a part of [the ProChrist event]. Yes, you are effecting things you are very unaware of.
Robert, Germany
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